Phantom Tag
by sahdah
Summary: Yoruichi is plagued by a nagging feeling. Can she run fast enough to escape her emotions? one shot
**Phantom Tag**

The world was a silent blur and passed through her senses as such.

Yoruichi was fleeing from her phantom pursuer. She giggled, as she avoided all obstacles in her path. Her body glorified in the freeing feeling, which came from the speed and grace for which she moved. Her senses tracked him; he was not so far behind

He's definitely improved; she mused and pushed herself harder. Would this be the time he finally caught her? She seriously doubted it. In the many years of this game he still had yet to best her. He had never won not once in 110years.

Yoruichi stopped and the world came into sharp focus once as she caught her breath. Turning instinctively, to narrowly miss the arm that would have ensnared her, she giggled and took off in another direction. This time the laughter was from shock, and a small part of her wished she had been caught. Alas, that would never be the case.

"Something on your mind?" Her pursuer inquires. "You are getting sloppy."

Pfft, she didn't care what he thought. An unbidden thought had worked its way into her mind, eating away at her from the inside but she would fight off that weakness.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, if you wish to catch me." Yoruichi antagonized him as she always had. It was a precarious balance, too much and he lost interest in the game. He was a proud man, and she understood that. Since the beginning he had said he never wanted to see the likes of her. These childish games were a waste of his time. Especially for the likes of her, still she enjoyed egging him on.

Her senses prickled and she narrowly dodged the swinging arc of a sword. The blade betrayed by the whining music it created slicing the air to reach her. She suddenly found herself atop a building staring down at him holding a piece of fabric in her hands.

How odd, she thought. She gazed down at his incredulous expression, it made her smile. He was an easy target to tease.

She turned and raced onward leaving him behind allowing the wind to snatch the hair ribbon from her hands as she blurred into nothingness.

Yoruichi ran at the speed of her thoughts, her heart racing. Allowing her senses to reach out she felt no signs of pursuit. Had he given up then? It did not matter much, she guessed. After all she was still running the world was hers for the taking marred only by the loss of her game.

The former _taichou_ ran harder. Pushing to the outer reaches of her power in order to out run her thoughts until all that was left was the rapid beat of her heart. Her senses reduced to the sound of her pulse hammering in her ears, the air rushing in and out of her lungs, the burn in her muscles. If she pushed herself hard enough, was possible she could burst from her body become the wind, escape her loneliness, and she would finally be free, free of the fear that gripped her heart.

Distracted she missed the subtle cues. The movement registered late in her field of vision and her last thought as she closed her eyes was to brace herself for the impact...which never came.

Her body was gripped by a vice and her world was turned upside down, her motion arrested instantaneously, with her back pressed up against something soft yet solid. The smell of ground and grass filled her senses and she felt something soft brush against her ear.

"I've caught you." He says.

! The spiritual pressure hit her like the aftershock of an earthquake. She opened her eyes.

Slate grey eyes looked steadily at her.

Yoruichi's heartbeat raced treacherously and for once she was rendered speechless.

This had to be a dream; she had never once been bested by him. Where had he come from? All she could do was observe him the way the gazelle stares at a lion. Prey caught in the eyes of the predator.

Wondering what was to happen next. If anything, how could the game be up so quickly? She reflected that this wasn't the way it was supposed to happen, yet it was the only way it could have happened. She regained a measure of control over her breathing. She held his gaze and raised an eyebrow in the tense moment sure that her face would not betray what her heart so desperately wished to.

"So it would seem." She replies.

The purple haired woman doubted he would rise to her challenge after all he was no longer the hot headed boy of his youth. No he was now the head of the Kuchiki household, _taichou_ of the 6th division. The only reason he had kept up with the childish game was to prove once and for all that he would always be superior to her. This was not the way the game was supposed to end.

He had her body pinned to the ground beneath him. She could feel the tension in his arms as he kept her prone underneath his body, his hips pressed against hers. His body radiated tension and power and the sense of victory. Her body was already betraying her desire for him due to his physical proximity. In the back of her mind she wondered why he was still there. Was he milking his moment of victory?

Yoruichi scanned the proud face once more and the intensity of his stare was like a slap to her face. She smiled taking it as a gift, a gift for her to get her emotions under control, before she could further betray herself for wanting that which she could never have.

"So it would seem." he repeats.

Her eyes snapped to his, losing her composure and rising to his challenge, eyes narrowed, _riatsu_ crackling. It was his turn to blink from the fire in her glare.

Enough! She could no longer stand the taunt of his body pressed so intimately against her own. She threw him from her body as her reiatsu arched in the form of lightning.

Realization dawning that she had never been the object of the chase, the object of the chase had always been the victory, and he had that now. Her body blurred as she prepared to run away again. Her movement was impeded as he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist pulling her close to his chest. Yoruichi gripped his arms tightly trying to push them off of her.

"Did I say you were free to go?" He says to her softly.

Anger coursed through her as she battled her body for control of reason. Her body which was betraying her wishes to fight only to hold onto him more tightly. She fought because of the shame she knew she would feel when he inevitably broke her grip if he were to realize that she wanted this all along.

How could I let this happen, she chided herself, she would be the only one that got hurt in this situation. How could she let herself become ensnared so easily?

"What is it?" he asks her as he spins her around.

She can't answer him, his eyes searing her to her soul. The answer radiating from the depths of her heart reflected in her eyes.

 _That which I most want I can never have._

And why is that. His steady gaze wonders.

Her body moved begging to betray her. She fought against the kiss she could almost taste. His steady gaze turned to a frown.

Her heart almost stopped, the pain she would feel if she gave in to her selfish desires would hurt her beyond any physical pain she had endured thus far in her life. She shut her eyes tightly wanting to move from the situation as far from it as possible. Her heart knowing this was forbidden territory.

Fire seared her senses as his hand coiled her long hair in a tight fist at the base of her neck tilting her face back to meet his eyes.

"Look at me" he says.

She cannot disobey his command so she opened her eyes. There was an entirely new intensity to his gaze and she watched in disbelief as his free hand brushed her hair from her face, her skin burning at his touch.

He was dangerously close and she could smell the cherry blossoms, his own unique scent. She steadied her breathing and remained still, prey observing the predator.

The silence drawing out with the tension of a single note of a violin being held suspended.

His expression, unfathomable, even now he was calm, serene and indifferent as always. She hated that, and yet, she'd always admired this about him and wondered when these feelings had festered.

The silence stretched further.

Yoruichi gasped as his lips made contact with hers. She lost control of the tight grip on her emotions.

Was this how it would feel to lose control to an inner hollow? She blinked losing her train of thought.

The hot trail of kisses on her neck brought Yoruichi crashing back to the present moment and she gasped for breath. Her hands gripped the front of his _Shihakushō_ ; she wanted to rip the fabric from his frame.

"Byakuya" she hissed his name. He gripped her body tighter to his own trapping her hands between them as he kissed her once more.

Yoruichi was lost to a world she had forbade herself ever imagine. Her hands moved to savor his body hungrily, his scent overpowering her reason and with no control over the situation she found herself seeing the situation as from the opposite side of a veil.

She watched as he removed her own _Shihakushō_ tossing the needless fabric off to the side, she watched him caressing her body, kissing her from her neck down to her navel. She felt him and yet she could not feel anything; she watched his body moving over her own, observing his powerful body the fluidity of his movements.

Yoruichi felt herself becoming more and more detached from the situation and fought to be fully present. To be in control of the body that had wrapped itself around her heart's desire.

Her eyes widened as she watched him ravage Hisana with reckless abandon. Her heart constricted because the face wasn't right, it was the face of Kuchiki Rukia.

She shuddered again as the fear gripped her heart. She wasn't present, this wasn't real.

The intimate scene disappeared from her vision with the speed of her running heart. The pain crushing her to the core of her being as everything was becoming blurred, turning to white, she heard a buzzing in her ears and other sounds were starting to reach her. She felt something solid at her back and a heavy weight on her soul…

Yoruichi blinked opening her eyes and took in her surroundings.

In the bright sunlight she looked over at Ran'Tao who was caring for Koga. That was right, she thought. She had brought Koga to Ran'Tao's hideout after his fight with Hitsugaya. After she unburied him and made sure Ran'Tao would be able to tend to his wounds exhaustion overtook her. It was now painfully obvious she had fallen asleep.

Yoruichi sighed running her hand through her long purple hair, embarrassed. Her weakness had taken advantage of her drained power. She wasted no more time thinking about it dressing quickly and headed out.

Ichigo would be facing Kariya soon and she had to find Byakuya. After all Urahara said only they would be strong enough to seal Kariya if he activated the Jōkaishō.

Yoruichi took a moment to lock away the remnants of her feelings. Most days her feelings were not hard to manage along with the rest of her abilities when she was in full awareness. However each night for as long as she could remember her heart accosted her in her moment of weakness and plagued her with dreams of him.

The purple haired beauty made her way to the Kuchiki mansion. Yoruichi observed Byakuya immaculately dressed as always as he exited the mansion giving a glance to the direction of Rukia's chambers, her heart involuntarily contracting in pain.

Rukia had already left for Sōkyoku Hill; Ran'Tao had informed her of this. It always struck her how much Rukia resembled Hisana. Hisana, the one woman who had won over Byakuya's heart, she was a humble woman not of noble birth, but a noble woman nonetheless. It had been at her request that Byakuya adopted Rukia. He could be so stubborn at times. He had almost stood by and watched as Soul Society executed the one person he promised his dying wife to save.

Had it not been for Ichigo Kurosaki, Byakuya might have had to break two oaths.

Ah Byakuya how he took everything so seriously. This was why Yoruichi made it a point to laugh easily and take unbridled joy at his proximity whenever their worlds joined. She also reflected that because of Ichigo, her interactions with Byakuya were happening more often.

She shook herself out of her contemplative mood; they needed to depart in order to save said orange haired Shinigami. Ichigo reminded her in so many way of Byakuya in his younger days. Impulsive, hot headed, and deeply committed.

Flash stepping to his side he betrayed no sign of surprise and they fell easily in step arriving at Sōkyoku Hill moments later.

Ichigo was already in the midst of battle.

"You must not help him Byakuya." She says to him when she sees him making a move to enter the battle. "If we interfere we might not be able to stop him if he detonates the Jōkaishō." She hated telling him to do anything he didn't wish to do himself but this was important Urahara needed them to complete the seal.

Yoruichi watched the battle. Something was clearly wrong Kariya's power seemed to be getting stronger, increasing even.

"Ichigo," she yells at the orange haired man. "Kariya has used up all his power he is not dependent on the Jōkaishō for power."

Yoruichi moved to block the bolt of lightning Kariya sent her way. Either way this fight would end today. Suddenly it was obvious that Kariya would release the Jōkaishō.

"Byakuya, please help me seal it before he has a chance to use it." She says to him.

Yoruichi sees that he will make no move to help. Ichigo and Kariya take up stances against one another. She looks to see that the 6th division _taichou_ will not move to help. Typical, he would ignore a direct request.

Her anger flared then immediately relaxed as she realized what he had, that Ichigo would win the standoff. She marveled again at his strength of character, the dreams would not be getting better anytime soon. Her heart fluttered in her chest as he walked away.

Yoruichi hardened her heart and turned to Ichigo who needed help now.

…

The wind whistled in her ears as she ran. Her hair streamed behind her and she giggled as she was transported to happier times. She felt her pursuer on her heels, maybe this would be the time that he caught her…if not she mused there was always tomorrow.

 _A/N: This came in the form of a dream._


End file.
